Oppose right wing extremist judicial nominee

The Issue:
On May 9, 2001, President George W. Bush has nominated Jeffrey S. Sutton, of Ohio, to serve on the Sixth circuit court of Appeals, which hears cases from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

Oppose immunity for gun makers

The ISSUE:
Legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives, H.R. 1036, and in the U.S. Senate, S. 659, to give immunity from lawsuits to gun manufacturers and gun dealers.

Specifically, the legislation would block suits filed by governments, civic groups and individual victims of gun violence seeking to hold the gun industry accountable for irresponsible manufacturing or selling of guns. If a parent loses a child because a gun was not manufactured with a simple and inexpensive child safety device, the parent would have no recourse to make sure the same tragedy didn't happen to another family. Sweeping federal immunity would also stop lawsuits filed by victims seeking to hold gun manufacturers and sellers accountable for their role in recklessly marketing and supplying guns to criminals.

Support affirmative action

The ISSUE:
Despite the fact that equal opportunity programs, such as affirmative action, have proven to be an effective tool that gives qualified individuals equal access to participate and contribute; access that has been historically denied, they have come under attack again in recent years. Most recently, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear in April a case attacking the equal opportunity admissions program at the University of Michigan law school. Unfortunately, President Bush has announced that he intends to file a brief in support of the plaintiff’s case and against the University’s affirmative action program.

The fact of the matter is that our nation still needs equal opportunity programs in education, employment and contracting. Approximately 18% of all college students are African American, Latino, or American Indian compared with 28% of the college age population. African American men and women comprise less than 2.5% of total employment in the top jobs in the private sector. Based on their number, minority-owned firms received only 57 cents for every federal dollar they would be expected to receive if they were not a minority-owned firm.

The Superpower of Peace and the fundamentalist nightmare

George W. Bush has attacked Iraq and put the world into a horrific vice that is the global peace movement's ultimate challenge: stopping a holy war that can only escalate into irrational and unstoppable mass slaughter.

In traditional geopolitical terms, the downward spiral of this catastrophic American attack has been fairly straightforward: Among other things:

· For weeks the entire world was riveted on Bush's campaign to win nine of fifteen votes on the Security Council to endorse the attack on Iraq. When he failed, he treated the UN as if it were no longer relevant, potentially weakening it for decades to come;

· UN weapons inspectors, led by Hans Blix, reported good progress in disarming Iraq right up to the moment the US attacked. They reacted angrily when their work was cut short. By attacking Iraq after it at least partially disarmed, the US may have doomed future UN disarmament efforts;

ABA advocates death penalty reform

James Coleman, Chair of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, testified before Congress on June 20 urging reform: “When the criminal justice system wrongfully sends an innocent person to prison or death row, it threatens all of us. The unimaginable horror of the execution of an innocent person should give us all the resolve to do what is necessary to fix what now clearly is a broken system.”

FREE computer recycling event! April 5

FREE computer recycling event! Find a new life for your old computer. Dell Computer Corp. is supporting the Environmental Protection Agency's "Plug-In To Recycling" campaign by organizing a FREE computer recycling event with Ohio State University and Keep Columbus Beautiful. Bring your unwanted computer equipment to the drop-off location at Ohio State University on Saturday, April 5, and we'll donate it to a local charity or recycle it free of charge.

Accepted items include any brand of computer-related equipment - computers, computer monitors, keyboards, mice, printers and other peripherals. We will NOT be accepting televisions, copiers, cell phones or other household electronics unrelated to your computer, so please leave them at home. Please remove all data from your computer's hard drive and any removable media such as floppy disks or PC cards.

Saturday, April 5, 2003
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Ohio State University Campus
Buckeye Lot North (Fred Taylor Rd, State Route 3105, Ackerman Road Exit)

For more information please visit www.dell.com/recyclingtour

Transgendered anti-war protester verbally, physically abused by police

A transgendered female participating in an anti-war protest was singled out, arrested and abused early Friday morning in Portland, Oregon.  Local transgenders are upset, and demanding explanations in response to the treatment by the Portland Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff's Dept.

In addition, the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) has expressed deep concern at the initial reports of this incident.  NTAC's chair, Vanessa Edwards Foster, called the news "especially troubling" and worthy of deeper investigation.

According to eyewitness reports, when police arrived at the Burnside Bridge near downtown Portland on Friday, March 21, they surrounded the crowd in full riot gear.  Once in place, they announced over a loud speaker that everyone could leave, and that anyone who chose to remain would be arrested for disorderly conduct. One male-to-female transgender was singled out by authorities for what was called "unwarranted verbal and physical abuse" on multiple occasions, and in front of several witnesses.

We got it coming: A review of the Arena Grand Theater and the movie CHICAGO

The Arena Grand theater is a masterpiece, and it's currently showing a masterpiece, CHICAGO, just rightly voted Oscar's best picture.  My advice:  see them both, asap!!!

By way of introduction:  this "dual review" marks my first for the new freepress.org web site.  By way of disclosure, the operators of the Arena Grand Theater---along with the legendary Drexel East and Grandview Theaters---are Jeff and Kathy Frank.  They are old friends of mine, and Jeff has kindly agreed to provide passes to those films I review.  He understands that I will be panning those films I don't like. 

I will, however, be lavishing praise on all three of these gems of theaters.  Here we are on solid mutual ground.  I've always loved the Drexel and Grandview.  They are oases of class and taste in an industry now dominated by crass and fake.  They combine the old style grace of the golden age of cinema with brilliant and often daring choices of product and programming.  More on them as the opportunity arises.

Federal Energy Regulators Find Widespread Abuse During Calif Energy Crisis; Billions In Refunds Ordered

The sky-high electricity and natural gas prices in California between 2000 and 2001 that bankrupted the state’s largest utility and caused several days of rolling blackouts was the result of widespread manipulation by several Texas-based energy companies with close ties to President Bush, federal energy regulators ruled Wednesday.  

The energy companies, Dynegy Inc., Reliant Resources, Enron Corporation, all of which contributed heavily to Bush’s presidential campaign, must now refund California billions of dollars in profits it reaped between January 2000 and June 2001. Other energy companies, including Duke Energy, Mirant and Williams Companies, were also identified for taking of advantage of loopholes in California’s newly deregulated energy market to boost their profits and ordered to pay refunds.  

In addition, FERC harshly criticized Reliant Resources for manipulating natural gas prices at the Southern California trading hub known as Topock. In FERC’s staff report to Congress, Reliant is accused of dominating the Southern California gas market, raising prices there and selling at the top of that market.  

Women's Organizations Worldwide Urge General Assembly to "Unite for Peace"

International women's organizations, including MADRE, Women of Color Resource Center, Center for Women's Global Leadership, and the International Women's Human Rights Law Clinic, today joined other women's organizations worldwide as they called on the member states of the United Nations General Assembly to enact an emergency application of UN Resolution 377 ("Uniting for Peace") to stop the US-led bombing of Iraq and protect Iraqi civilians.

Uniting for Peace provides that in the event of a "threat to the peace or act of aggression," which the Security Council does not counter, the General Assembly "shall consider the matter immediately." The Assembly can recommend collective measures, including the use of armed forces, to member states to "maintain or restore international peace and security."

This action follows a recent call in New Delhi made by women's organizations from over 35 countries condemning the Bush Administration's war against Iraq and urging the General Assembly to challenge US aggression. The organizations also condemn the Bush Administration's attempts to undermine the United Nations, which have been reported in the Chilean newspaper, La

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